Thousands of Amazonian butterflies return to Vancouver Aquarium

Be surrounded by thousands of Amazonian butterflies at the Vancouver Aquarium as the Graham Amazon Gallery returns.

From now until September, the exhibit will feature a wide variety of butterflies such as blue morphos, giant owls and heliconians, as they feed on nectar and disappear under their camouflage on tree trunks.

The rainforest re-creation reveals the unique life cycles of butterflies and their roles within the ecosystem, as well as the challenges facing the tropical region.

“Almost 90 per cent of the world’s leading food crops rely on animal pollinators like butterflies,” said assistant curator Andrea Cotter in a news release on Tuesday. “They are an important animal for us to conserve and encourage.”

More than 4,000 species have been identified in the Amazon rainforest, with hundreds more to be discovered.